Pinoy Olympians in showbiz

The 2012 Summer Olympics, officially the Games of XXX Olympiad, will be held in London, the first city to host it three times (first in 1908 and then in 1948). Opening the event at the 80,000-seater London Olympic Stadium on July 26 is Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II, who’s commemorating her Diamond Jubilee this year, and her husband Prince Philip.

The Philippine team will be wearing Rajo Laurel creations (a combination of black, gold and mocha Barong Tagalog with palay embroidery and accessorized with a salakot with gold leaves) during the opening and closing parade ceremonies on Aug. 12. 

According to Funfare’s “other beauty expert” Celso de Guzman Caparas, “The Philippines began participating in the quadrennial event in 1924 with a lone delegate, sprinter David Nepomuceno. No athlete was sent to compete in 1980. To date, we have reaped nine Olympic medals, two silvers and seven bronzes…one gold from 1988 Seoul and two bronze medals from 1992 Barcelona for bowling and Taekwondo, respectively, but both are demonstration sports only.”      

Celso made a list of Pinoy Olympians in showbiz. Here they are:

• Carlos “Leleng” Ruiz Padilla Sr. (1910–1962) was already in showbiz when he competed in the welterweight boxing division in the 1932 Los Angeles Olympics. He lost to Lucien Laplace of France. An actor, director and writer, Carlos did pre-war movies such as Lilies of Benguet with Naty Fernandez in 1928; La Monjita, 1931; Makata at Paraluman, 1933; Punyal na Ginto, 1933 (the first Tagalog “talkie”); and Hinagpis ng Magulang, 1934. After the Liberation, he teamed up with top actresses including Mila del Sol (Alaala Kita, 1946, and Sa Ngiti Mo Lamang, 1947), sister-in-law Arsenia Francisco (Angelus, 1946) and Linda Estrella (Dalawang Daigdig, 1946). At the height of his career, he was paralyzed by a massive heart attack. He died in 1962 at the age of 52. Leleng was the father of actor-turned-international boxing referee Carlos “Sonny” Padilla Jr. (who started as a child actor) and actresses Erlinda O’Padilla and Lani O’Padilla, grandfather of Zsa Zsa Padilla and great-grandfather of Karylle.

• Jose Maria “Pempe” Ruiz Padilla Jr. (1911–1978) won the Junior Featherweight Division in the 1931 Tokyo Oriental Boxing Federation before competing in the Lightweight Division in the 1932 Los Angeles and 1936 Berlin Olympics. He lost to South African Laurie Stevens in his first Olympics stint. In Berlin, Pempe reached the quarter finals when he beat German Karl Schmedes and Polish Czeslaw Cyraniak in Rounds 1 and 2 but lost to Hungarian Imre Harangi in Round 3. Pempe later turned professional boxer for a while and after two fights, he concentrated on his movie career that lasted for four decades. He was introduced in a silent movie horror flick Ang Multo sa Libingan (1931); his last film was Batingaw (1974). Pempe was the first (1950) Maria Clara Awards Best Supporting Actor for Hantik, 1951 Maria Clara Awards Best Actor for Diego Silang and 1953 FAMAS Best Actor for Huk sa Bagong Pamumuhay.

• Carlos “Caloy” Loyzaga, popularly known as “The Big Difference,” was a two-time Olympian basketball player. His squad ranked No. 9 out of 23 teams at the 1952 Helsinki Olympics and No. 7 out of 15 teams at the 1956 Melbourne Olympics. He was head coach of our national team at the 1968 Mexico Olympics. Caloy was a sports broadcaster for some years before migrating to Australia. Caloy is the father of actresses Bing Loyzaga and Teresa Loyzaga, and cagers Joey Loyzaga and Chito Loyzaga.

• Anthony Villanueva, a featherweight boxer, won the country’s first silver medal at the 1964 Tokyo Olympics. Anthony beat four opponents before reaching the final round: Giovanni Girgenti of Italy, Tamar Ben Hassan of Tunisia, Piotr Gutman of Poland and Charles Brown of USA. He lost to Russian Stanislav Stepashkin in the battle for the gold. Anthony signed up with Larry Santiago Productions for P100,000 to appear in Pamatay: Kaliwa’t Kanan with Nida Blanca, Vilma Valera and Willie Sotelo. His other movies were Salonga Brothers (1965, with Joseph Estrada) and Fighting Fist (1971, with “Karate King” Roberto Gonzales). In 2007, Anthony was voted as one of the 10 Best Filipino Fighters by ESPN and was one of the nine sports legends (including his father) enshrined in the Philippine Sports Hall of Fame in 2010. He is the son of bantamweight boxer Jose “Cely” Villanueva, bronze medalist at the 1932 Los Angeles Olympics.

• Alberto “Big Boy” Reynoso (1940-2011) was the team captain of the national basketball squad at the 1968 Mexico City Olympics, our country’s only competitor. The Philippines finished with a win-loss record of 3-6 and placed 13th overall out of 16 teams. Big Boy was introduced in Dimasupil Brothers (1971) and did another movie, Bilangguang Puso (1972, starring Susan Roces, Dante Rivero and Lourdes Medel).

• Robert “Jawo” Salazar Jaworski was a member of the national basketball team at the 1968 Mexico City Olympics. Dubbed as The Big J and The Living Legend during his heyday, Jawo was introduced in an FPJ’s starrer, Fando (1970). Then, he starred in Bugoy, Fastbreak and Berdugo (all directed by D’Lanor, FPJ’s pseudonym). Jawo also appeared in father-in-law Ramon Revilla’s starrers Nardong Putik, Pepeng Agimat and Hulihin si Tiyagong Akyat. His other movies include Kasing-Kasing Ko (with Pinky de Leon), El Negro (with Rosanna Ortiz), Big J (with Gina Pareño, Liza Lorena and Gina Alajar), Sapagka’t Kami’y Mga Misis Lamang (with Susan Roces and Nora Aunor) and Dobol Dribol (with Nora Aunor), all of which were released in the ‘70s. Jawo was elected senator in 1998 but lost in his reelection bid in 2004.

• Adriano “Jun” Papa played with the national basketball team at the 1968 Mexico City Olympics. His introductory movie was Tapang Brothers (1971, with Tony Ferrer) and he starred in Tayo’y Magbasketball (1973) and Sergeant 7 (1974). He played Diana Zubiri’s father in Bakat (2002).

• Freddie Webb was a reserve in the 1968 Mexico City and played with the national basketball team at the 1972 Munich Olympics. He entered showbiz in 1971 via Dimasupil Brothers and has appeared in at least two dozen movies. He also appeared in several TV shows and is best remembered as Mr. Jimmy Capistrano (Nova Villa’s husband) in Chicks to Chicks aired over IBC from 1977 to 1989. He’s also a radio and television sports commentator. Webb was elected councilor of Pasay City in 1971, congressman of Parañaque’s lone district in 1987 and senator in 1992.

• Manuel “Manny” Paner was a member of the national basketball team at the 1972 Munich Olympics, our last squad to compete in the quadrennial competition. The Philippines defeated Japan (82-73) in the final round but only placed 13th overall out of 16 teams. Manny’s films include Tapang Brothers (1971), Leron-leron Sinta (1972), May Isang Tsuper ng Taxi (1990) and Chavit (2003).

• Rosalio “Yoyong” Martirez was also a member of the national basketball team at the 1972 Munich Olympics. He was introduced in Tapang Brothers (1971) and appeared in at least two dozen movies. In 2011, TV5’s autobiographical drama series, Star Confessions, featured Yoyong’s life story, with James Blanco essaying the lead role and Atoy Co as the coach. Yoyong is the Pasig City’s incumbent vice mayor. 

• Christine Jacob competed in the swimming events (100-m and 200-m freestyle, 100-m and 200-m backstroke) at the 1984 Los Angeles Olympics. In 1990, Christine became one of Eat, Bulaga’s hosts and at the same time a PTV (now NBN) newscaster. Other TV shows that she co-hosted were ABS-CBN’s Magandang Tanghali Bayan, Q TV’s Here Comes The Bride and Full-Time Moms. Christine won in the 2006 PMPC Star Awards for Television as Best Educational Show Host for GMA 7’s Mobile Kusina. She starred with Vic Sotto in Rocky Plus V (1991) and Ang Kuya Kong Siga (1993).

• Elma Muros, touted as Asia’s Long Jump Queen and Iron Lady, competed in the long jump event twice, at the 1984 Los Angeles and 1996 Atlanta Olympics. Elma is one of the castaways in GMA 7’s Survivor Philippines: Celebrity Edition 3 (2010) and played coach/trainer to Maja Salvador’s title-role movie, Thelma (2011).

• Lydia de Vega, Asia’s Sprint Queen, was a competitor in the athletics event (100 meters and 200 meters) at the 1984 Los Angeles Olympics and 100 meters at the 1988 Seoul Olympics. In 1984, she reached the quarter finals, heat 2 in the 100 meters event. Lydia portrayed herself in Medalyang Ginto (1982, with Tony Santos Sr. as Tatang de Vega, Lydia’s trainer and coach; Perla Bautista, Joseph Sytangco and Dave Brodette). In 2001, she won a council seat in her hometown in Meycauayan, Bulacan, and later became a consultant for the Philippine Amateur Track and Field Association. She’s now based in Singapore with her family, where she coaches school’s track and field teams and private athletes.

• Gillian Akiko Thompson was a three-time Olympian, the only Filipina athlete to have participated three consecutive times. She competed in the swimming events in the 1988 Seoul (50-m and 100-m freestyle and 100-m backstroke); 1992 Barcelona (100-m and 200-m freestyle, 100-m and 200-m backstroke) and 1996 Atlanta (200-m backstroke). Akiko placed No. 18 out of 45 swimmers in 100-m backstroke and No. 19 out of 43 swimmers in 200-m backstroke, both in Barcelona. She later became a TV host in GamePlan: Beyond Pure Sports, a journalist in Probe and Cheche Lazaro Presents. Akiko was recently appointed as one of the commissioners of Philippine Sports Commission. 

•  Mansueto “Onyok” Velasco won the Philippines’s second and last silver medal at the 1996 Atlanta Olympics. He lost to Bulgarian Daniel Petrov in the Light Flyweight Division finals. Onyok was launched in his bio-film, The Onyok Velasco Story (1997, with Ace Espinosa and Ina Raymundo) and did six other films. He later became a comedian in several TV sitcoms. He’s co-hosting Manny Pacquiao’s Manny, Many Prizes aired over GMA every Saturday evening. (Trivia: Fresh from his WBC lightweight title win over American David Diaz, Pacquiao was given the honor as flag bearer during the opening parade in 2008 Beijing Olympics. He was not a competitor.)

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